As the popularity and capabilities of smartphones, netbooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, and other mobile devices have grown, social networking services have utilized such devices to facilitate real-time interaction between users. Over time, these devices have contributed to behavioral and cultural shifts among an entire generation of social networking users. Users are now able to share unprecedented amounts of personal and professional data among colleagues, friends, coworkers, and businesses of their choosing.
Meanwhile, increased bandwidth and data transmission speeds have opened the door to seamless integration between applications installed on a variety of physical devices of a user. Many such devices have global positioning system (GPS) receivers which provide users with location-based information. For example, a user of a smartphone may obtain driving directions based on a current location. In addition to receiving location-based information, users may choose to share location-based information with one or more social networking services.
This influx of user data has lead to a wide range of applications. Beneficial applications of this data have been developed, including customized search, content, and support. Software applications can now increase the relevance of content and tailor information based on historical analysis, usage statistics, and various other metrics derived from user data. Conversely, malicious software has been created to mine data from users' now integrated online presence.
Many users periodically update one or more social networking services with a status, location, mood, and/or message. These updates may be shared with other users and/or entities of a social networking service according to one or more security protocols defined by the service. As a result, individuals, companies, and entities of all types have unprecedented access to a continuously growing wealth of information within a respective social network.